WHEN MUSIC MEETS PHOTOGRAPHY
" Relax, and let passion
take over "
Don't worry, be happy. It will show.
When my friend came over for a few nights and told me that she was going to participate in the recording of a music videoclip, I asked if I could come and see. I really wasn't certain that it'd be alright.
I am normally not the kind to crash into strangers' parties, or to invade others' space. But music and photography are two of my greatest passions and didn't want to pass on that opportunity.
I had taken the camera really only because it made me feel better, but I really wasn't thinking I'd dare using it. There were photographers everywhere, film-makers, and I felt like I wasn't really in a position to add any value.
But sometimes, you need to relax, and breath, and let your passion take over. I love images, and I love music, and I am fond of happy people. It was all there surrounding me and that very day, I let the good vibrations take over me and freed myself from the fear. I had nothing to loose.
The videoclip was all about this. Being free, dancing, singing, being tolerant, and trying to live happy every single day after the attacks Paris had suffered. The band, HK & Les Saltimbanks, is a happy group of crazy friends, and the actors were deaf or partially deaf for the most part. Communicating had never been that easy though. It was about happy body language and laughter all day long, between teams, artists, crews, and the regular clients of the bar where the clip was recorded.
So I shot - I shot a lot. And people gave me smiles, gave me laughter, gave me happiness, welcomed me like one of them. And we sang, and we posed, and we danced, and we drank, and we had lots and lots of fun. Now with the distance, I think it shows well through the pictures.
At the end of the day, I don't think I'll ever be a professional photographer. Not that I couldn't learn, but I am conscious that being an amateur keeps me free of doing what I like and only what I like.
However, in days like that day, I am reminded, without the shadow of a doubt, that music, photography and humanity are where I truly belong.
Music
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence, which exist in time. The common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound).
[...]
Many ethnographic studies demonstrate that music is a participatory, community-based activity. Music is experienced by individuals in a range of social settings ranging from being alone to attending a large concert, forming a music community, which cannot be understood as a function of individual will or accident; it includes both commercial and non-commercial participants with a shared set of common values.
(wikipedia)
Ce soir nous irons au bal
HK et les Saltimbanks
MORE ABOUT MUSIC
 A regular client of the bar La Pétanque comes over and joins the crew and plays for us |  Enjoying the recording of a happy team |  Film maker recording |
|---|---|---|
 HK learning sign language for his videoclip |  Artist dancing for the videoclip |  Comedian and sign language translator laughing with the crew |
 Guitarist of HK & Les Saltimbanks |  The rain invites itself to the party. But we love rain. |  Recording the happy dancing and singing teams |
 Band laughing in the bar during the break |  The teams, including scripts, translators, and musicians, are all enjoying this moment |  Main violinist takes a break and enjoys watching the scene |
 Passion and happiness in the look |  All happy and cheering after a long and happy music day |